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Milky Posted 19 years ago
Grammar

the/a bank

0Mindy: Hi, where's Jake?02br
00Mandy: He's at the bank.02br
00Mindy: Which one? I'll go in search of him.02br
00Mandy: I've no idea which bank he uses.02br
00Mindy: Is it Barclay's, ING, Nat West?02br
00Mandy: I've really no idea. All I know is that he's at the bank.02br
02br
00.......02br
02br
00Why "the bank"?0-
  

Top answer

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— Nona the brit

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14 Answers
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0the bank (that he has an account with).02br
02br
00a bank - any bank.0-
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0 01blockquote
01cite10Nona The Brit12cite10the bank (that he has an account with).12br
12br
10a bank - any bank.12br
12blockquote
11b01font00Reight. Even though the speaker doesn't know which bank the person is at, he knows that there is probably only 01u00one
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0So, do you say "He is at the post office/grocery store/mall/bar/gym/restaurant" when you don't know the specific post office/mall/bar/... he is at?0-
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0Only if you know that he would be going to a specific one, even though you don't know exactly which, if that makes sense. 02br
02br
00He is at the post office/grocery strore/mall/gym - we can assume that he is at the most local one, or his local one, or his regular one. Most people go to a specific one.02br
02br
00He is at a bar/restaurant. There are lots
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0Is it correct to leave out the definite article:02br
02br
00He is at post office/grocery store/mall/gym/bar/restaurant.02br
02br
00This is to indicate the purpose of his visit is related to the roles of the facilities. Some examples that follow this rule are:02br
02br
00at school, at church0-
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0 01blockquote
01cite10New2grammar12cite12br
10So, do you say "He is at the post office/grocery store/mall/bar/gym/restaurant" when you don't know the specific post office/mall/bar/... he is at?12br
12br
12blockquote
12br
01font00<<"He is at the post office/grocery stor
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01. He's gone 01u00to the bank02u00.02br
02br
002. He's gone 01u00to a bank02u00.02br
02br
00In #1, the underlined portion serves as an adverbial: it qualifies "go". The focus is on the going.02br
02br
00In #2, the underlined portion presents new information. The focus is on the bank.02br
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0 I get a feeling that the expression "at the bank" often does not intend to refer to a specific bank, or even the building itself, but is another way of saying "carrying out financial business". It feels idiomatic, or lexicalised. 0-
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0 01blockquote
01cite10New2grammar12cite10Is it correct to leave out the definite article:12br
12br
10He is at post office/grocery store/mall/gym/bar/restaurant.12br
12br
10This is to indicate the purpose of his visit is related to the roles of the facilities. Some examples that follow this rule are:12br
0
0
0 01blockquote
01cite10Grammar Geek12cite10In the U.S., you say "the" for post office, store, mall, gym, etc.12br
12br
12blockquote
10Would you also say "in the hospital" where Brits would say "in hospital"?0-
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